Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-06
MARY JAMES TRAVELS.
DICkEY AND SIZE PAY A VISIT
TO THE CITY OF FLORENCE.
They Have Trouble with Their Railroad
Ticket Eersus- "f the Italian Spelling
of the City'~ Name. Which IL FirsnIe.
Their joint observations

women, who never hnI any previous for
egn experience, and only speak English,
think We are doing first rate. We hav,
never missed connection. never been lat.
for n train. never got into the wrong station
town or hotel. and haven't had an accident
or a delay. don't say this hnaStmgly, but
merely 10 show th,-.. who told us wunieI
couldn't travel alone that women can do d
good many things If they are only given the
opportunity.
presume every body who goes Ia Florence
(Which In Italian il Firtuze and which cam.
near getting me int" Trouble at the station
becau>e | was going t. Florence and not
relIZe, aS In" ticket called furl Climbs the
famous gingerbread C1,upanIle by the side of
the Cathedral of ~. Gingerbread, the star
architectural attraction uf Florence did.
ana found that Ia" roofs Of the WI pre-
Sented symphony IN brown, which. though
common III li'"t roof Italy, reached ITS highest
development here Ih" whole place seemed
10 have had brown tarpauln spread over
II, with the edges begged down to the green
oi The heIdH beyond, and We got about as
much hiea OF the plan of the city as il we had
gone down cellar Instead Of up To the garret
One of the most tir-Somc things to look at in
Italy j. the tiled roof. There isn't any other
kind because there iSrI't timber enough in
the country 10 make shingles. and tin or slate
is rather too modern
! Our boy l. still with us and is still making
remarks. An American in the party Is in a
constant state OF surprise at finding peonle in
Italy who speak English, and he invariably
compliments the speaker with All. YOU SPEAK
| very good English. Coming here some
1 English people came into our compartment.
and our American was soon talking to them
| was over III the corner irving to hold the
! hoy down
Get on 10 his nihS," said he in a hoarse
whisper.
'Sh-Sh," said |. shaking him: "let the man
| talk If he wants to
"Of course | will, said he You might as
| well try To- 'lam up the waters Of the Nile
| with bnlruShes AMI - forth but III bet four-
teen dollars and seventy five cents that the
next thing he saws will he, All. you speak
very good English"
But he didn't, and it had such an effect on
the boy that he kept perfectly quiet for half
All hour.
| We had guide in Florence, and he was an
artist, fOr he Lai made mosaics for several
! years, but lie didn't know the lnrrIcacies of
! "ui language lie Wa sEuwing u the tomb
| Ci the Medlris, that wonderful work in
| precious and Lard stones, and WAS quite de
sirous that We te impressed with the fact TINT
| the polished surfaces Of stUn. rejecting the
! fTesrUes Of the dome a. in mirror, were not
marble, but hard stone which would turn the
edge Of any ordinary chiSel. Every time
either of IL would Inadvertently say marble
the guide would eXclaim: Not marble! Not
marble, 1t i not marble. but hard and
precious stone" Just before leaving the place
| we put our faces close down to ,he shining
surface of the dado and luOl,ed tar INTO its
depths, u into the depths Of clear water
1t is marvellous said Die .ey, rapturouSly
No, no." said the guide with ali unex
perte,lncs, that startled Us, 1t Is not marble,
it Is hard and precious stone"
Dirkey was IN earnest and SO was the guide,
and she tired Ia explain 10 him the nature OF
her emotion a> expressed 10y marvellous" but
he couldn't comprehend, and she gave it up.
By the way, the guIie told Us that this
MedICi, tomb, monument, chapel. or whatever
1t may lie called, had c,~t 2bJ,OUu. .OvJ francs
The figures are slightly elevated, 80 to speak
but you don't have 10 Lelieye guide unless
you want 10.
Florence is headquarters for art for the
whole world, anu the [ iliZI fIttl gallery oi
paintings and statuary Is not measured by
ieet, but miles, and after extending along "a
street OF two III Florence 1t crosses the rlveT
and takes III considerable territory on the
other side. About mile and three quarter.
of these paintings are Old portraits, and are
not worth the canvas they are painted on, but
they are kept on the wall, and have to he
looked at along with tue others and RIVED
over by lovers of old masters and other all,
tiquities
Florence is quite q pretty town, and one
feels like calling Vt a sweet place Its
suburbs bring their green shades close to the
city, and the smell of the trees and the flowers
almost neutraliz,S the usual bad odOrs preva.
lent in an Italian town.
Until W. .achel florence the rule of con
struCtlun IN Italian churches appeared to Ire
To put all the Ornamentation on the inside,
and cover it IN with walls and roof whose
chief merit was durability and ugliness; but
in Florence the order is changed, and the ca
thedral is building as sNudy in its exterior
as it is the reverse within. Its front, built Of
white and colored marbles, and trimmed
with statues and voluted columns and other
architectural pasSemen,crie like the front of
a skirt, is Just finished. after several hundred
years Of waiting, and it is real pretty, but
somehow it lacks dignity. 1t looked 20 me a
good deal like a Methodist preacher in vo-
ciferous plaid suit. and still | couldn't helm
but admire il. The campaniie. OF bell tower
adjoining, which l. n sort Of long handle 10
the cathedral, i the result Of order to
construct the most graceful and beautiful
Tower III the world / don't know whether it
is or not, but | Climbei "a the top Of it.
They had big celebration in the cathedral
the day We visited it, a Il the place was full
An orchestra aud choir of lie singers occlI-
pied one portion OF the tran>ept. The bishops
priests and assistants held the center with the
usual religious services, while the crowd
promenaded around, talking and laughing,
pretty much aS il would through the lobby uf
"a theatre between the acts
l can't say that it was an unintereSting
church service, but it was, 10 say the least,
slightly different from what we had been
accustomed to at home
As We left the cathedral we saw what
everybody sees III every Italian town-naine-
ly, two or three gien sound asleep i'll the sun.
We'll, said Dckey, IN a tone of disgust,
lit SEEMS to Inc theS'' people don't do any
thing else but sleep and 20 10 church
They differ only slightly from our own"
said l.
al don't see how" said she
Don't YOU" said l. "Tllese sleep and go
TO church, and ours go to church and sleep"
Possibly | may have beeu mistaken but
know good many men who occupy the cor.
ners Of pews III American churches who
dare not challenge my conclusion.
] observe Us We come north in Italy that
tlt. women iirc less handsome than those of
the south. don't hiow the ethnology of the
case but Tor ten ha usome faces in Napl,a
ynu don't see more than one in Florence.
Aud for open immortality, Florence is the
worst l ever saw, aud pictures and other ar
ticlcS are offered for sale III the piaZZa> and
stores Mhicn Anthony Comstock and the no-